---
title: 'AI IVRs'
summary: 'A lightweight AI voice assistant that screens callers, deflects common questions, and transfers them to the right human. The simpler sibling of Smart Assistants.'
section: features
tags:
  - crud
  - telephony
  - ai
  - voice
updated: '2026-06-17'
---

> An **AI IVR** is a lightweight AI voice assistant that screens callers, answers common questions, and transfers them to the right human. The simpler sibling of [Smart Assistants](smart_assistants.md): you pick the extension, voice, and transfer rules, and the system supplies the greeting and behavior from defaults.

## Overview

An AI IVR is the same underlying entity as a [Smart Assistant](smart_assistants.md), run in transfer-lite mode: you fill in a handful of fields and the system supplies the greeting, prompt, silence handling, and lifecycle rules.

Use an AI IVR to deflect common questions before they reach a person, or to triage callers into the right department by what they say. Use a full [Smart Assistant](smart_assistants.md) when the AI needs to complete a task itself, when you want a custom prompt, or when the conversation is genuinely back-and-forth.

## What it does

When a call reaches the extension, the AI answers immediately, speaks the default greeting, and converses until it identifies what the caller needs. It then fires the matching [transfer template](smart_assistant_transfer_templates.md), or ends the call politely if nothing matches. Configure a default transfer template if you never want that outcome. The transcript and the matched transfer are logged for audit.

The **Published** toggle is the master on/off. When off, calls fall through as if the AI is not there. Publishing takes a few seconds to take effect.

> [!CAUTION]
> The AI generates spoken audio that may be recorded depending on your call-recording settings. If your jurisdiction requires disclosure, add an announcement step ahead of the AI IVR in the call flow.

## See also

- [Smart Assistants](smart_assistants.md) - the full-featured AI assistant for richer conversations.
- [Smart assistant transfer templates](smart_assistant_transfer_templates.md) - the templates that decide when and where to transfer.
- [Extensions](extensions.md) - the internal number an AI IVR answers at.
- [Call flows](call_flows.md) - the AI Assistant step type routes calls to an AI IVR.